Chapter VII: The Vikings and the Celtic Church

Beyond a few meagre allusions the Irish Annals throw no light on the progress of Christianity among the “foreigners” in Ireland during the ninth century. Fortunately, however, the Icelandic Sagas and the _Landnámabók_ have preserved some interesting details concerning a small number of the Norse settlers in Iceland, who had previously come under the influence of Christianity in Ireland and in the Western Islands of Scotland. As far as we can gather from these sources the new faith seems at first to have made but little headway; heathenism retained a strong hold on the majority of the Norse people, and there can be little doubt that this form of religion was extensively practised in Ireland during the Viking age. Evidence of this is to be found in _The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, which describes how Authr, wife of Turgéis, sat on the high altar of the church in Clonmacnois, and gave audiences as a prophetess.[176] In this instance the high altar would seem to have corresponded to the _seithr hjallr_ or platform which it was customary to erect in Icelandic houses when a _völva_ or prophetess was called in to foretell the future.[177] Some writers[178] also point to the numerous raids on churches and religious houses as a proof of the Vikings’ hostility to Christianity, but these attacks were much more likely to have originated in the amount of treasure which the raiders knew to be stored in these places. It is rather in this light, too, that we must regard Turgéis’ expulsion of the abbot Farannan from Armagh (in 839), and his subsequent usurpation of the abbacy,[179] than as an attempt to stamp out Christianity and establish heathenism in its stead.

Yet, at the same time, the Norsemen must have come into close contact with the religion of the “White Christ” through their intercourse with the Irish. Indeed, an entry in the _Annals of Ulster_ (A.D. 872), referring to the death of Ivárr the Boneless, implies that this famous Viking died a Christian.[180] The records are silent on this point with regard to Olaf the White, although he was related by marriage to Ketill Flatnose, a famous chief in the Hebrides, all of whose family, with the exception of his son, Björn the Easterner, adopted Christianity. Olaf’s wife, Authr, daughter of Ketill, was one of the most zealous of these early Norse converts: “She used to pray at Crossknolls, where she had crosses erected, because she was baptized, and was a good Christian.” Before her death she gave orders that she was to be buried on the seashore, between high and low water-mark, because she did not wish to lie in unconsecrated ground. The _Landnámabók_ also says that for some time after her death her kinsfolk reverenced these knolls, but in course of time their faith became corrupt, and in the same place they built a temple and offered up sacrifices.[181] We hear, too, of Orlygr the Old, who had been fostered by Bishop Patrick in the Hebrides. When he was setting out for Iceland the Bishop gave him “wood for building a church, a plenarium, an iron penny and some consecrated earth to be put under the corner pillars,” and asked him to dedicate the church to St. Columba. On the voyage a great storm arose. Orlygr prayed to St. Patrick that he might reach Iceland in safety, promising, as a thanksgiving, to call the place in which he should land by the saint’s name.[182] Mention is also made of several other Christians from the British Isles: Jörundr, Helgi Bjóla;[183] Thorkell--son of Svarkell from Caithness--“who prayed before the cross, ever good to old men, ever good to young men;”[184] Ásólf,[185] Ketill--grandson of Ketill Flatnose--who was surnamed _hinn fiflski_ (‘the foolish’) because he adhered to Christianity.[186] A long time after (c. A.D. 997) Thangbrandr the Priest found descendants of Ketill’s in Iceland, “all of whom had been Christians from father to son.”[187] Considering the missionary ardour of the Irish at this period it is curious that no priests accompanied these early settlers to Iceland. This may have been due to scepticism as to the sincerity of these converts; such, at least, is the impression received from the Irish annals and chronicles, in which the Norsemen are almost invariably referred to as ‘heathens’ and ‘pagans.’ The result was that the influence of Christianity declined in Iceland; “some of those who came from west-the-sea remained Christians until the day of their death” says the _Landnámabók_, “but their families did not always retain the faith, for some of their sons erected temples and offered sacrifices, and the land was wholly heathen for nearly one hundred and twenty years.”[188]

In the transition from heathenism to Christianity opposing beliefs were sometimes held at the same time; the Viking continued to have recourse to Thor even after he had been baptized. Helgi the Lean, son of Eyvindr the Easterner, and Rafarta, daughter of King Cearbhall of Ossory, “was very mixed in his faith; he believed in Christ, but he invoked Thor for seafaring and brave deeds. When he came in sight of Iceland he asked Thor where he should settle down;” and when he had built his house, “he made a large fire near every lake and river, thus sanctifying all the land between… Helgi believed in Christ, and therefore named his house after Him.”[189] We also read that “Örlygr the Old and his family trusted in Columba,”[190] but whether they abandoned all other belief in the Christian faith and fell into Paganism is not quite clear. Again, in the account of the naval battle between Danes and Norsemen in Carlingford Lough (A.D. 852) the annalist describes how “Lord Horm,” leader of the Danish forces, advised his men to “pray fervently” to St. Patrick, “the archbishop and head of the saints of Erin,” whose churches and monasteries the Norsemen had plundered and burned. So the Danes put themselves under the protection of the saint: “Let our protector,” they cried, “be the holy Patrick and the God who is lord over him also, and let our spoils and our wealth be given to his church.” After the battle ambassadors from the _árd-rí_ found the Danes seated round a great fire, cooking their food in cauldrons--which were supported on the dead bodies of the Norsemen, while near by was “a trench full of gold and silver to give to Patrick; for the Danes,” adds the chronicler, “were a people with a kind of piety; they could for a while refrain from meat and from women.”[191]

This confusion of the two religions is also illustrated in the crosses, symbols of Christianity, which the Vikings erected in the north of England and in the Isle of Man to the memory of their kinsfolk. On the Gosforth cross in Cumberland a representation of the Crucifixion--obviously influenced by Celtic designs--is found side by side with a figure of the god Vitharr slaying the Wolf, a scene described in Vafthrúthnismál; while on the western side of the cross is portrayed the punishment of Loki.[192] A fragment of a cross in the same locality shows Thor fishing for the Mithgarthsormr,[193] a subject which is also treated on a cross slab in Kirk Bride Parish Church, Isle of Man.[194] Among the many other Celtic crosses in Man are four upon which are carved pictures from the story of Sigurthr Fáfnisbani: Sigurthr roasting the dragon’s heart on the fire and cooling his fingers in his mouth, his steed Grani and the tree with the talking birds; another figure has been identified with Loki throwing stones at the Otter.[195] There are besides twenty-six crosses with Runic inscriptions, six of which bring out the Viking connection with the Celtic Church. On one the Ogam alphabet is scratched, and the same monument bears a Runic inscription which tells us that “Mal Lumkun (Ir. Mael Lomchon) raised this cross to his foster (mother) Malmuru (Ir. Maelmuire), daughter of Tufgal (Ir. Dubhgall), whom Athisl had to wife.” To this the rune writer adds: “It is better to leave a good foster-son than a bad son.”[196] Crosses were also erected by Mail Brikti (Ir. Mael Brigde), son of Athakan (Ir. Aedhacan) the smith;[197] by Thorleifr Hnakki in remembrance of his son Fiak (Ir. Fiacca);[198] and by an unknown Norseman to the memory of his wife Murkialu (Ir. Muirgheal).[199] Another cross-slab commemorates Athmiul (? Ir. Cathmaoil), wife of Truian (_i.e._, the Pictish name _Druian_), son of Tufkal,[200] while still another stone contains a fragment of a prayer to Christ, and the Irish saints, Malaki (Malachy), Bathrik (Patrick), and Athanman (Adamnan).[201]

The advance of Christianity during the tenth century may be attributed to a large extent to the prevalence of the practice known as _prime-signing_ or marking with the sign of the cross. According to _Eyrbyggja Saga_ (ch. 50), this was “a common custom among merchants and mercenary soldiers in Christian armies, because those men who were ‘prime-signed’ could associate with Christians as well as heathens, while retaining that faith which they liked best.” Nearly all the Norse kings who reigned in Dublin during this century seem to have accepted Christianity. When Gothfrith plundered Armagh in 919 “he spared the church and the houses of prayer, with their company of culdees (ceile-de) and the sick.”[202] We may assume that Sihtric Gale, Gothfrith’s brother (or cousin) was also a Christian, since he formed a friendly alliance with Aethelstan, who gave him his sister in marriage.[203] In 943 Olaf Cuaran was baptized, and in the same year Rögnvaldr, another Norse prince, was confirmed.[204] After the battle of Tara (980) Olaf went on pilgrimage to Iona, where he died “after penance and a good life.”[205] His daughter and grandson were called by distinctively Irish Christian names--Maelmuire[206] (servant of Mary), and Gilla Ciarain[207] (servant of St. Ciaran). We may also note the name Gilla-Padraig which occurs in the royal family of Waterford[208] and the half-Irish name of a priest in Clonmacnois, Connmhach Ua Tomrair, who must have been of Norse extraction.[209]

But all traces of heathenism in Ireland had not disappeared by the end of the tenth century. An interesting relic was Thor’s ring (Ir. _fail Tomhair_) which was carried off from Dublin by King Maelsechnaill II. in 994.[210] This must have been the _dóm-hringr_, so frequently alluded to in Icelandic literature. It was a ring of silver or gold, about twenty ounces in weight, which lay upon an altar in the temple, except during ceremonies, when it was worn on the priest’s arm.[211] Upon this ring oaths were usually sworn.[212] That it was connected with the worship of Thor is clear from a passage in the _Landnámabók_ describing a place called Thorsnes in Iceland: “there still stands Thor’s stone, on which were broken the backs of those men who were about to be sacrificed, and close by is the _dómhringr_ where the men were condemned to death.”[213] Even as late as the year A.D. 1000 we hear of Thor’s wood (_caill Tomair_) north of Dublin, which was laid waste by Brian Borumha after the battle of Gleann Mama.[214]

The battle of Clontarf (A.D. 1014) is frequently represented as a great fight between Pagan and Christian, but this point of view is hardly confirmed by the historical facts. It is true that the Norsemen numbered among their supporters such prominent upholders of heathenism as Sigurthr, earl of Orkney, and Broder--who had been a mass-deacon, but “now worshipped fiends, and was of all men most skilled in sorcery,” yet it must be remembered that the Leinstermen, under their king Maelmordha, also formed part of the Norse army on the same occasion. Moreover, both the Norse and Irish accounts of the battle agree that Gormflaith, who had been the wife of Brian Borumha, inspired by hatred of Brian, was mainly responsible for the renewal of hostilities between the two peoples. Her son, Sihtric Silken Beard, who was most active in mobilising the Norse troops, must have been a Christian, since the coins which were minted in Dublin during his reign are stamped with the sign of the cross. In 1028 he visited Rome, and there is record of another visit some years later.[215] His death is entered in the Annals under the year 1042, in which same year his daughter, a nun in an Irish convent, also died.[216]

It was probably on his return to Dublin from Rome in 1036 that Sihtric gave “a place on which to build a church of the Blessed Trinity,” afterwards known as Christchurch Cathedral, and “contributed gold and silver wherewith to build it.”[217]

The Norsemen would seem to have regarded the Irish Church with no friendly feelings. The first Norse bishop, Dunan or Donatus, was on intimate terms with Lanfranc, and when the next bishop, Patrick, was chosen by the clergy and people of Dublin, he was sent, with a letter professing their “bounden obedience” to Lanfranc for consecration (A.D. 1074).[218] His successors, Donatus (d. 1095), Samuel (d. 1121), and Gregory (d. 1162) were also consecrated at Canterbury, and acknowledged the supremacy of the archbishop. An interesting letter addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury by the priests and citizens of Dublin in 1121 is still extant: “You know,” the letter runs, “that the bishops of Ireland, more especially the Bishop of Armagh, is extremely angry with us because we will not submit to his decrees, and because we always wish to remain under your authority.”[219]

Bishoprics were founded at Waterford and Wexford later than in Dublin. Malcus, the first Bishop of Waterford, was consecrated at Canterbury, and on his arrival in Waterford in 1096, he began to build a church, dedicated, like that of Dublin, to the Holy Trinity.[220]

Some years later we hear of a Bishop of Limerick, Gilla or Gilbert, who does not seem to have been consecrated in England, but who was in close touch with the Archbishop of Canterbury.[221] He it was who convoked the synod at Rathbresail, at which it was decided to divide Ireland into dioceses: “there,” says Keating, “the sees and dioceses of the bishops of Ireland were regulated; Dublin was excluded, because it was not customary for its bishop to receive consecration except from the Archbishop of Canterbury.”[222] Limerick and Waterford were placed under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Cashel, but this decree seems to have been ignored by the people of Limerick, for they elected their next bishop, Patrick, in the ordinary way and sent him to England for consecration.[223] It is uncertain whether the Waterford people obeyed, as the records merely mention the names of the succeeding bishops.

A still more important synod was held at Kells in 1132. There the decision of the previous synod regarding the division of the country into dioceses was ratified, and archbishoprics were established at Dublin, Armagh, Cashel, and Tuam. Henceforth the bishops of Dublin, Limerick, and Waterford were consecrated in Ireland, and this marked the close of the connection between Canterbury and the Celtic Church.

FOOTNOTES

[149] Only one reference is to be found in the Annals. See _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 728.

[150] Eoin MacNeill: “The Norse Kingdom of the Hebrides” (_Scottish Review_, Vol. XXXIX., pp. 254-276).

[151] It is interesting to recall that a new development in shipbuilding, probably due to the same causes, was taking place in England about the same time. The _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_ first mentions a naval encounter with Vikings under the year 875, and some twenty years later describes the long ships, “shaped neither like the Frisian nor the Danish,” which Alfred had commanded to be built to oppose the _oescs_, or Danish ships.

[152] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 912.

[153] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 939.

[154] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 953 (= 955). _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 963.

To this entry the annalist adds the following note: “Quod non factum est ab antiquis temporibus.”

Cf. _Three Fragments of Annals_ (A.D. 873): “Bairith (O.N. Barthr), drew many ships from the sea westwards to Lough Ree…”

[155] Ancient Norway was divided by Haakon into districts (_Skipreithur_) each of which had in wartime to equip and man a warship: the number of these districts was fixed by law. _Gulathingslög_, 10. Cf. _The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel_, p. 151, n; etc. Cf. _The Saga of Haakon the Good_ (_Heimskr._), ch. 21.

[156] _The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel_, pp. 29, 86.

[157] _Ib._, pp. 89-102.

[158] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 109.

[159] _Ib._, p. 133.

[160] _Ib._, p. 137.

[161] See A. Bugge: _Norse Loan-words in Irish_ (_Miscellany Presented to Kuno Meyer_, p. 291 ff.).

W. A. Craigie: _Oldnordiske Ord i de Gaeliske Sprog_ (_Arkiv för Nordisk Filologi_, X., 1894).

C. Marstrander: _Bidrag til det Norske Sprogs Historie i Irland_.

K. Meyer: Revue Celtique, X., pp. 367-9, XI., pp. 493-5, XII., pp. 460-3.

[162] Marstrander (_op. cit._, p. 21) suggests that the word is connected with the O.N. dialectal form _berling_, “a little stick or beam under the shallows in a boat.”

[163] Cf. the list of authorities referred to _ante_, pp. 38, 39.

[164] The Norsemen sometimes adopted Irish fashions in their dress. The great Viking Magnus, who was killed in Ireland in A.D. 1103, was usually called “barelegs” (O.N. _berfaettr_) because he always wore the Irish kilts; and his son, Harold Gilli, who could speak Irish better than Norse, “much wore the Irish raiment, being short-clad and light-clad.” It was probably from his Irish _cuaran_, or shoes of skin that Olaf Sihtricsson, the famous King of Dublin received his nickname.

[165] In the _Annals of the Four Masters_ (A.D. 960), _lagmainn_ is the name given to certain chieftains from the Hebrides who plundered the southern and eastern coasts of Ireland.

[166] The word occurs only once in Irish: cf. _The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel_, p. 140.

[167] _The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 203, says that when the Norsemen were fleeing after the battle of Clontarf, Earl Broder, accompanied by two warriors, passed by the tent in which King Brian was. One of these men, who had been in Brian’s service, saw the King and cried “Cing, Cing” (This is the King). “No, no, acht prist, prist” said Broder (No, no, it is a priest, said Broder).

[168] These annals state that on one occasion (_A.D._ 869) Cennedigh of Leix, a brave Irish chieftain, was pursued by the Norsemen, who “blew their trumpets and raised angry barbarous shouts, many of them crying ‘_nui, nui_.’”

[169] Marstrander (_op. cit._, p. 156) suggests, however, that _roth_ may be an archaic form of the Irish _ruadh_, ‘red.’

[170] Cf. W. A. Craigie: _Gaelic Words and Names in the Sagas and Landnámabók_. (_Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie_, Band I., pp. 439-454).

A. Bugge: _Vesterlandenes Indflydelse paa Nordboernes i Vikingetiden_, ch. 9. See especially pp. 358-359.

[171] There is an interesting account of the _gelt_ in the Old Norse _Konungs Skuggsjá_ (_Speculum Regale_):

“It happens that when two hosts meet and are arranged in battle-array, and when the battle-cry is raised loudly on both sides, cowardly men run wild and lose their wits from the dread and fear which seize them. And they run into a wood away from other men, and live there like beasts and shun the meeting of men like wild beasts. And it is said of these men then when they have lived in the woods in that condition for twenty years, that feathers grew on their bodies like birds, whereby their bodies are protected against frost and cold…”

Cf. Kuno Meyer: _On the Irish Mirabilia in the Old Norse “Speculum Regale”_ (_Eríu_, Vol. IV., pp. 11-12).

This bears a striking resemblance to a certain passage in the mediæval romance _Cath Muighe Rath_ (Battle of Moy Rath, p. 232. Ed. by O’Donovan). It may also be compared with another romance, which probably dates from the same period, viz., _Buile Suibhne_, (_The Madness of Suibhne_, ed. by J. G. O’Keefe for the Irish Texts Society). Cf. also _Hávamál_ (ed. Gering), str. 129, etc.

[172] Vilbald, a descendant of Kjarval, King of Ossory, had a ship called _Kuthi_, cf. _Landnámabók_, IV., ch. II. Todd (_War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 299, n.) suggests Ir. _Cuthach_.

[173] According to _Jáns Saga hins Helga_, ch. 14 (_Biskupa Sögur_ I., Kaupmannahófn, 1858) King Magnus Barelegs sent an Icelander with other hostages to King Myrkjartan of Connacht. When they arrived there, one of the Norsemen addressed the King in these words: “Male diarik,” to which the King replied “Olgeira ragall,” _i.e._, Ir., _olc aer adh ra gall_, (it is a bad thing to be cursed by a Norseman.)

[174] _minnthak_ was the name given by Hjorleif’s Irish thralls to the mixture of meal and butter which they compounded while on board ship on their way to Iceland. They said it was good for quenching thirst. Cf. _Landnámabók_, I., ch. 6.

[175] Cf. Whitley Stokes, _op. cit._, pp. 186, 191.

[176] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 13.

Cf. also _Three Fragments of Annals_, p. 146: “In a battle fought between the Irish and the Norsemen the latter were driven to a small place surrounded by a wall. The druid Hona went up on the wall, and with his mouth open began to pray to the gods and to exercise his magic; he ordered the people to worship the gods…”

[177] Cf. _Thorfinssaga Karlsefnis_, ch. 3; _Vatnsdaela Saga_, ch. 10; _Tháttr af Nornagesti_, ch. 11; _Hrólfs Saga Kraka_, ch. 3; etc.

[178] _e.g._, C. Haliday: _The Scandinavian Kingdom of Dublin_, p. 12 ff. Margaret Stokes, _op. cit._, pp. 96-98.

[179] Cf. _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 8.

[180] The expression used is _quievit in Christo_ and occurs only in _MS. A_. As neither _MS. B_ nor any of the other annals mention Ivárr’s conversion it may be that the scribe of the former has unintentionally slipped into using a formula which was customary in recording the death of a Christian.

[181] _Landnámabók_, II., ch. 16.

[182] _Landnámabók_, I., ch. 12.

[183] _Ib._, V., ch. 15.

[184] _Ib._, I., ch. 13.

[185] _Ib._, I., ch. 15.

[186] _Ib._, IV., ch. 11.

[187] _Njáls Saga_, ch. 101.

[188] _Landnámabók_, V., ch. 15.

[189] _Ib._, III., ch. 12.

[190] _Ib._, I., ch. 12.

[191] _Three Fragments of Annals_, pp. 120-124.

[192] Cf. _Gylfaginning_, chs. 51, 52.

[193] _Hýmiskvitha, pass._ Cf. W. S. Calverley: _The Ancient Crosses at Gosforth_, p. 168.

[194] P. M. C. Kermode: _Manx Crosses_, pp. 180-184.

[195] _Ib._, pp. 170-179.

[196] _Ib._, pp. 86-95, 195-199.

[197] _Ib._, pp. 150-153.

[198] _Ib._, pp. 203-205.

[199] _Ib._, pp. 209-213.

[200] _Ib._, p. 169.

[201] _Ib._, pp. 212-213.

[202] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 919. The same source in recording Gothfrith’s death (A.D. 933) speaks of him as “the most cruel of the Norsemen.”

[203] _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, _MS.D._, A.D. 925.

[204] _Ib._, _MSS. A._, 942, D. 943.

[205] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 979.

[206] _Ib._, A.D. 1021.

[207] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 207.

[208] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 982.

[209] _Ib._, A.D. 1011.

[210] _Ib._, A.D. 994.

[211] _Eyrbyggja Saga_, chs. 4 and 10; _Kjalnesinga Saga_, ch. 2; etc.

[212] Cf. _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, _MS.A._ Annal, A.D. 876, _Kjalnesinga Saga_, ch. 2; etc.

[213] _Landnámabók_, II., ch. 12.

[214] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, pp. 196, 198.

[215] _Annals of Tigernach_, A.D. 1028, 1036.

[216] _Ib._, A.D. 1042.

[217] _The Whole Works of Sir James Ware Concerning Ireland_, Vol I., p. 301. (Ware quotes from the Black Book of Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin.)

[218] _Ib._, p. 306.

[219] _Ib._, pp. 309-311.

[220] _Ib._, pp. 525-6.

[221] _Ib._, p. 504.

Cf. J. MacCaffrey: _The Black Book of Limerick_. Introduction, chs. 5 and 7.

[222] _The History of Ireland_, by Geoffrey Keating (ed. P. S. Dinneen). Vol. III., p. 298.

[223] _Ware_, _op. cit._, p. 505.